# Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 74 kg

The men's freestyle 74 kilograms at the 1996 Summer Olympics as part of the wrestling program were held at the Georgia World Congress Center from August 1 to August 2. The gold and silver medalists were determined by the final match of the main single-elimination bracket. The losers advanced to the repechage. These matches determined the bronze medalist for the event.

## Results
### Legend

* WO — Won by walkover

### Round 1

| | Score | | CP |
| 1/16 finals ||||
| David Hohl (CAN) | 3–4 | Boris Budayev (UZB) | 1–3 PP |
| Rein Ozoline (AUS) | 7–15 Fall | Valerij Verhušin (MKD) | 0–4 TO |
| Takuya Ota (JPN) | 11–0 | Felipe Guzmán (MEX) | 4–0 ST |
| Árpád Ritter (HUN) | 3–5 | Igor Kozyr (BLR) | 1–3 PP |
| Park Jang-soon (KOR) | 4–1 | Magomedsalam Gadzhiev (AZE) | 3–1 PP |
| Magomed Kurugliyev (KAZ) | 1–7 | Victor Peicov (MDA) | 1–3 PP |
| Radion Kertanti (SVK) | 4–3 | Turan Ceylan (TUR) | 3–1 PP |
| Alberto Rodríguez (CUB) | 1–1 | Kenny Monday (USA) | 1–3 PP |
| Buvaisar Saitiev (RUS) | 8–0 | Issa Momeni (IRI) | 3–0 PO |
| Alexander Leipold (GER) | 6–0 | Lazaros Loizidis (GRE) | 3–0 PO |
| Anthony Avom Mbume (CMR) | 0–10 | Plamen Paskalev (BUL) | 0–4 ST |

### Round 2

| | Score | | CP |
| 1/8 finals ||||
| Boris Budayev (UZB) | 0–8 Fall | Valerij Verhušin (MKD) | 0–4 TO |
| Takuya Ota (JPN) | 4–1 | Igor Kozyr (BLR) | 3–1 PP |
| Park Jang-soon (KOR) | 3–0 | Victor Peicov (MDA) | 3–0 PO |
| Radion Kertanti (SVK) | 1–5 | Kenny Monday (USA) | 1–3 PP |
| Buvaisar Saitiev (RUS) | 3–1 | Alexander Leipold (GER) | 3–1 PP |
| Plamen Paskalev (BUL) | | Bye | |
| Repechage ||||
| David Hohl (CAN) | 11–5 | Rein Ozoline (AUS) | 3–1 PP |
| Felipe Guzmán (MEX) | 0–12 | Árpád Ritter (HUN) | 0–4 ST |
| Magomedsalam Gadzhiev (AZE) | 4–0 | Magomed Kurugliyev (KAZ) | 3–0 PO |
| Turan Ceylan (TUR) | 0–7 | Alberto Rodríguez (CUB) | 0–3 PO |
| Issa Momeni (IRI) | 3–0 | Lazaros Loizidis (GRE) | 3–0 PO |
| Anthony Avom Mbume (CMR) | | Bye | |

### Round 3

| | Score | | CP |
| Quarterfinals ||||
| Plamen Paskalev (BUL) | 12–0 | Valerij Verhušin (MKD) | 4–0 ST |
| Takuya Ota (JPN) | 0–5 | Park Jang-soon (KOR) | 0–3 PO |
| Kenny Monday (USA) | | Bye | |
| Buvaisar Saitiev (RUS) | | Bye | |
| Repechage ||||
| Anthony Avom Mbume (CMR) | 0–10 | David Hohl (CAN) | 0–4 ST |
| Árpád Ritter (HUN) | 2–3 | Magomedsalam Gadzhiev (AZE) | 1–3 PP |
| Alberto Rodríguez (CUB) | 4–1 | Issa Momeni (IRI) | 3–1 PP |
| Boris Budayev (UZB) | 4–2 | Igor Kozyr (BLR) | 3–1 PP |
| Victor Peicov (MDA) | 5–0 | Radion Kertanti (SVK) | 3–0 PO |
| Alexander Leipold (GER) | | Bye | |

### Round 4

| | Score | | CP |
| Semifinals ||||
| Plamen Paskalev (BUL) | 3–5 | Park Jang-soon (KOR) | 1–3 PP |
| Kenny Monday (USA) | 1–6 | Buvaisar Saitiev (RUS) | 1–3 PP |
| Repechage ||||
| Alexander Leipold (GER) | 10–2 | David Hohl (CAN) | 3–1 PP |
| Magomedsalam Gadzhiev (AZE) | 6–2 | Alberto Rodríguez (CUB) | 3–1 PP |
| Boris Budayev (UZB) | 3–5 | Victor Peicov (MDA) | 1–3 PP |
| Valerij Verhušin (MKD) | 0–7 | Takuya Ota (JPN) | 0–3 PO |

### Round 5

| | Score | | CP |
| Repechage ||||
| Alexander Leipold (GER) | 3–0 | Magomedsalam Gadzhiev (AZE) | 3–0 PO |
| Victor Peicov (MDA) | 4–5 | Takuya Ota (JPN) | 1–3 PP |

### Round 6

| | Score | | CP |
| Repechage ||||
| Plamen Paskalev (BUL) | 8–4 | Alexander Leipold (GER) | 3–1 PP |
| Takuya Ota (JPN) | 4–2 | Kenny Monday (USA) | 3–1 PP |

### Finals

| | Score | | CP |
| Classification 7th–8th ||||
| Magomedsalam Gadzhiev (AZE) | WO | Victor Peicov (MDA) | 0–4 PA |
| Classification 5th–6th ||||
| Alexander Leipold (GER) | WO | Kenny Monday (USA) | 4–0 PA |
| Bronze medal match ||||
| Plamen Paskalev (BUL) | 3–5 | Takuya Ota (JPN) | 1–3 PP |
| Gold medal match ||||
| Park Jang-soon (KOR) | 0–5 | Buvaisar Saitiev (RUS) | 0–3 PO |

## Final standing

| Rank | Athlete |
| | Buvaisar Saitiev (RUS) |
| | Park Jang-soon (KOR) |
| | Takuya Ota (JPN) |
| 4 | Plamen Paskalev (BUL) |
| 5 | Alexander Leipold (GER) |
| 6 | Kenny Monday (USA) |
| 7 | Victor Peicov (MDA) |
| 8 | Magomedsalam Gadzhiev (AZE) |
| 9 | David Hohl (CAN) |
| 10 | Valerij Verhušin (MKD) |
| 11 | Alberto Rodríguez (CUB) |
| 12 | Boris Budayev (UZB) |
| 13 | Árpád Ritter (HUN) |
| 14 | Igor Kozyr (BLR) |
| 15 | Radion Kertanti (SVK) |
| 16 | Issa Momeni (IRI) |
| 17 | Rein Ozoline (AUS) |
| 18 | Turan Ceylan (TUR) |
| 19 | Magomed Kurugliyev (KAZ) |
| 20 | Anthony Avom Mbume (CMR) |
| 20 | Lazaros Loizidis (GRE) |
| 20 | Felipe Guzmán (MEX) |